Chase Cliffe is a building situated between the villages of

Whatstandwell Whatstandwell is a village on the River Derwent in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. It is about five miles south of Matlock and about four miles north of Belper. Whatstandwell railway station is located on the Derby-Matlock ...

and

Crich Crich is a village in the English county of Derbyshire. The population at the 2001 Census was 2,821, increasing to 2,898 at the 2011 Census (including Fritchley and Whatstandwell). It has the National Tramway Museum inside the Crich Tramway V ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the no ...

. The house was built in 1859 by the three sisters of then deceased Francis Hurt.

History

In 1854, Francis Hurt died and his three unmarried sisters had to leave

Alderwasley Hall Alderwasley Hall School is an independent residential special school. The school is for children and young people aged 5 to 20 with High-Functioning ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), Asperger's Syndrome, Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), and ...

to make space for his male heir. Upon the death of Hurt, the sisters were paid large sums to guarantee their financial independence, and in 1859 they started construction on a country home near Crich, Derbyshire. This house was built on the site of "Hob Hall", a house of which little is known.

Benjamin Ferrey Benjamin Ferrey FSA FRIBA (1 April 1810–22 August 1880) was an English architect who worked mostly in the Gothic Revival. Family Benjamin Ferrey was the youngest son of Benjamin Ferrey Snr (1779–1847), a draper who became Mayor of Christ ...

was consulted as architect, and the house was built to an irregular T plan of regular coursed gritstone and ashlar dressings. The house is mainly of two storeys with gabled dormers to the attics. The southern elevation has an open four-bay arcade with segmental arches from octagonal piers. Constructed started in 1859, and the main house was complete by 1861. The house now carries Grade II listing. In 1870, work was made on the construction of a lodge and stable block built from regular coursed gritstone to match the house. A lodge has a statue of a deer mounted upon its gable. The entire estate is flanked by stone walls of 1.5 metres height. These also carry Grade II listing. The three sisters were great benefactors to Crich parish and donated three stone seats for parishioners to rest on the way to St Mary's Church. Two still exist; however, one of these is covered in vegetation. The sisters paid for the construction of the

Fritchley Fritchley is a small village in Derbyshire south of Crich and north of Ambergate. It falls under the civil parish of Crich. To the west of the village is the ruin of a windmill. Fritchley has an active Congregational Church, and there is a Quaker ...

National School, church improvements and a community nurse.Crich Parish, Hurt Family of Alderwasley

References

{{coord, 53.0794, -1.4912, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Houses in Derbyshire Country houses in Derbyshire

History

See also

References